Lilbits (3-20-2014): This is what Android Wear looks like… on your phone

LG and Motorola plan to launch smartwatches running Google’s new Android Wear software in the first half of the year. But you can already get an idea of how the platform will work by taking the software developer kit for a spin on your computer.

Or you can actually install the Android Wear launcher on your Android phone or tablet.

The folks at Android Police grabbed the launcher app from the SDK and they’re making it easy for anyone to download and try… assuming that you want to use a home screen designed for 1.8 inch screens on your 5 inch smartphone.

Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web.

Now you can install the Android Wear launcher app on your phoneThe launcher app doesn’t have all the features of an Android Wear smartwatch yet. It doesn’t support voice controls, for instance… and doesn’t really do much other than display notifications and let you open the associated apps. But if you just want to give it a once over before returning to your regularly scheduled home screen, nothing’s stopping you. [Android Police]

Pebble has sold about 400,000 smartwatches so farThe smartwatch space is still young, and less than half a million devices might not seem like a lot to a larger consumer electronics company. But Pebble has a head start over Motorola, LG, and many other companies that are just starting to get into the wearable space. [CNN]